unit 9

prejudice

refers to a preconceived judgment, opinion or attitude directed toward certain people based on their membership in a particular group. It is a set of attitudes, which supports, causes, or justifies discrimination. Prejudice is a tendency to over categorize.

Groupthink

Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives. Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people.

stereotype

In social psychology, a stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people. By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have.

ingroup bias

In-group Bias (also known as in-group favoritism) is the tendency for people to give preferential treatment to others who belong to the same group that they do. This bias shows up even when people are put into groups randomly, making group membership effectively meaningless.

just-world theory

the just-world phenomenon is the tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve. Because people want to believe that the world is fair, they will look for ways to explain or rationalize away injustice, often blaming the person in a situation who is actually the victim.

group polarization

the tendency for members of a group discussing an issue to move toward a more extreme version of the positions they held before the discussion began. As a result, the group as a whole tends to respond in more extreme ways than one would expect given the sentiments of the individual members prior to deliberation.

Bay of Pigs

"Groupthink" is a dynamic wherein members of a team see the world through a biased, narrow lens, reach premature conclusions, and make bad decisions. In 1973, Yale psychologist Irving Janis began exploring the concept of Groupthink by researching the chain of events involved in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, where U.S.-trained and equipped soldiers attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro's Cuban government.

Social Reciprocity Theory

As a social construct, reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more cooperative than predicted by the self-interest model; conversely, in response to hostile actions they are frequently much more nasty and even brutal

self-serving bias

A self-serving bias is the common habit of a person taking credit for positive events or outcomes, but blaming outside factors for negative events. This can be affected by age, culture, clinical diagnosis, and more.

deindividuation

Deindividuation, phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly impulsive, deviant, and sometimes violent acts in situations in which they believe they cannot be personally identified (e.g., in groups and crowds and on the Internet).

ethnocentric

Ethnocentrism refers to a tendency to use your own culture as the standard by which to judge and evaluate other cultures. ... It can also make it difficult to see how your own cultural background influences your behaviors.

Attraction: Proximity, Mere Exposure Theory, Physical Attraction, Similarity

People are more likely to become friends with people who are geographically close. One explanation for this is the mere exposure effect. The mere exposure effect refers to people's tendency to like novel stimuli more if they encounter them repeatedly. The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. In social psychology, this effect is sometimes called the familiarity principle. Attractiveness (or physical attractiveness) describes how appealing or pleasing a person's physical features and aesthetic beauty are. ... The physical attractiveness stereotype (hyperlink) is the tendency to perceive physically attractive people as intelligent, talented, confident, well-liked, and honest. one of the gestalt principles of organization. It states that people tend to organize objects with similar qualities into a perceptual group and interpret them as a whole

Reciprocal Theory

Reciprocal determinism is the theory set forth by psychologist Albert Bandura which states that a person's behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment.

scapegoat

Scapegoat theory refers to the tendency to blame someone else for one's own problems, a process that often results in feelings of prejudice toward the person or group that one is blaming. Scapegoating serves as an opportunity to explain failure or misdeeds, while maintaining one's positive self-image.

Social Exchange Theory

Social exchange theory proposes that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. ... According to this theory, developed by sociologist George Homans, people weigh the potential benefits and risks of social relationships. When the risks outweigh the rewards, people will terminate or abandon that relationship.

social facilitation

Social facilitation is a psychological concept relating to the tendency for the presence of others to improve a person's performance on a task

social loafing

Social loafing describes the tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group. Because all members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible.

Bystander Effect

The Bystander Effect is a social phenomenon in which a person (or persons) are less likely to offer help to another person (or persons) when there are more people around who can also provide assistance. Many people believe that, when there is an emergency and lots of people are present, the people in need are more likely to get assistance. However, this is not the case. Rather, the more people there are who can help, the less likely each person is to offer help. Thus, when in a group, people are less likely to offer help than when they are alone.

central route

The Central Route Processing (also known as Central Route to Persuasion) is a method of persuasion (i.e., a way to persuade others). This method of persuasion works best when the facts presented are strong, the topic is relevant to the listener, and the audience is motivated to listen.

fundamental attribution error

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency people have to overemphasize personal characteristics and ignore situational factors in judging others' behavior. Because of the fundamental attribution error, we tend to believe that others do bad things because they are bad people. We're inclined to ignore situational factors that might have played a role.

peripheral route

The peripheral route is an indirect route that uses peripheral cues to associate positivity with the message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Instead of focusing on the facts and a product's quality, the peripheral route relies on association with positive characteristics such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement.

cognitive-dissonance theory

The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this conflict causes feelings of unease or discomfort.

foot-in-the-door

There is both foot-in-the-door phenomenon and foot-in-the-door technique. As you can guess, the technique is used to get the phenomenon. The phenomenon is the tendancy for people to comply with some large request after first agreeing to a small request. As you can then imagine, the technique is used to get compliance from others (to get them to behave in a way you want) in which a small request is made first in order to get compliance for a larger request.